


Truth... or Dare (and Get to Meet Your Secret Admirer At Least)

by minshuas



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Breaking the law.... aka trespassing., M/M, Rated T for literally just cursing., Seugli and Wonwoo as siblings.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 21:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12198132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minshuas/pseuds/minshuas
Summary: What are best friends for? Well, apparently Soonyoung's best friends are for getting him arrested, or haunted forevermore by whatever lurks in the abandoned mall on the outskirts of town. But... maybe Soonyong wouldn't mind being haunted forevermore by whatever is lurking in the abandoned mall. Maybe Soonyoung wouldn't mind... at all.





	Truth... or Dare (and Get to Meet Your Secret Admirer At Least)

**Author's Note:**

> HEY............ this is unbeta'd a little bit tbh. i went through it so fast so if you spot a mistake pls gloss over it unless it is Big then pls let me know on twitter or here. i've been dead bcos of mold poisoning so pls take this as a gift. i miss soonwoonet... pls do not forget me
> 
> this is...............the worst thing i've ever written. this is why i only write angst and hurt/comfort

“Poor damn excuse for best friends,” Soonyoung’s hands are shaking, throwing light high and low. The flashlight in his hands is useless at this point because he can’t even walk in a straight line. “Truth and dare? More like ‘ _ Truth and Get Soonyoung Arrested at All Costs _ .’” He can’t believe he’s really doing this. Instead of being stuffed into Jihoon’s car, he should have just ran for it. His apartment is only a block away from Jihoon’s house. Honestly, he probably would have made it because Jihoon’s legs are so short, and because Seokmin would have started laughing so hard he would be doubled over, unable to give chase.

Why hadn’t he run?

If he concentrates past his fear and the loud, howling wind that is appropriate for this situation, then he can hear them talking in the distance. They are making sure that he will complete his chosen dare.  _ ‘You picked dare.’  _ Seokmin had taunted, stubbornly refusing to pick a new dare for Soonyoung. Maybe another law for him to break or a stranger to shake up. He should have known better than to have picked dare when it was Seokmin, but he is Kwon Soonyoung, Dare- _ Doer _ . There’s no way he would have picked anything else. There’s no fun in a game of truth with people he’s known since kindergarten. 

“Get the fuck in there already!” Jihoon yells. When Soonyoung makes it to the tall, threatening building, he’ll enter and it’ll be safe for Seokmin and Jihoon to climb into the safety and warm of Jihoon’s car. All the while, Soonyoung will be stuck in the rundown mall that lacks electricity, which means there will be no warmth, no lights. All Soonyoung has is himself and a flashlight, both of which are pretty useless for the given scenario. It’s dark, so Jihoon probably misses the finger that Soonyoung has raised high, but Soonyoung is sure Jihoon knows him well enough by now to know that that is the only necessary response right now. 

To say that Soonyoung is scared is an understatement. His heart is in his throat, working overtime, and his palms are sweaty. There’s no way that he’s going to make it out of this place alive or without getting arrested. Recently, ‘recently’ being in the last two years, the mall in their city had closed. The mall, a very popular hangout for college students and high schoolers alike, had been at the very outskirts of the city. It had been nearly impossible to find a bus that would travel that distance, and even then, it would take nearly forty-five minutes before it arrived there to deposit those who could not drive. All in all, the mall needed to be moved and finally, the construction for the new mall was finished. At the end of the day, a new mall means that there is a new exploration for rebellious teenagers and young adults, or a new torture for those playing truth or dare. 

It takes him five more minutes of walking as slow as humanly possible while still moving forward before he’s at the front doors. They are inevitably locked, but Soonyoung still hopes that someone broke in this way before him. That way, at the very least, he won’t have to smash some glass with a rock or try to pick at a lock. He’s never done either, so he has no clue what he’s doing, especially if he has to pick the lock. Though, even if he knew how to pick a lock, his hands are shaking too much to be able to concentrate on such an exact task. 

However, he can pick up a giant ass stone from the gravel garden that sits beyond the sidewalk, acting as a eccentric divider. The rock sits heavy in his hands while his head swims. There is no way that he’s not going to jail after this. He’s pretty sure that even if it is abandoned, this still counts as trespassing. 

He puts the flashlight in the crook of his arm, then he wraps his hand up in the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He takes a deep breath and realizes that he can no longer hear Seokmin and Jihoon from their lookout. It doesn’t ease his nerves any. Now, he’s really alone here, in front of the glass doors that stare deeply into the deep, vast darkness. 

‘ _ Take something from inside.’  _ Jihoon giggles then, shrugging. ‘ _ That way we know you really went in.’  _

‘ _ What do you want me to take?’  _ Soonyoung had asked. 

‘ _ Anything!’  _ Jihoon and Seokmin exchange together. ‘ _ But the more valuable or weird, the better. _ ’ 

Soonyoung doesn’t know what he’ll find, if anything. It seems like a hopeless venture. He could possibly discover some remnants of some storefront, but he doubted that he would be prancing into a Spencer’s and coming out with some oddity. He wishes he  _ could  _ do that though. Jihoon and Seokmin wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if he handed over a vibrator. Jihoon would probably try to beat him with it while Seokmin would just… die in the presence of it. He’s completely impossible when it comes to anything inappropriate, but so is Jihoon. Soonyoung feels like an outsider there, but maybe his thoughts are just not as innocent. Both Seokmin and Jihoon are in involved relationships, so that might have something to do with it, especially with Seokmin. His girlfriend is the light of his life and he could never imagine doing anything other than worshipping the ground she walks on. They are a funny pair, always joking and performing weird skits or dancing, even while in public. Soonyoung loves them together, even if he misses Seungkwan’s constant presence. Their breakup might have been for the best, but it wasn’t the best for Soonyoung, who wanted to honor the fact that they were broken up and it was Seungkwan that had decided to end it, for someone else at that. Jihoon’s boyfriend is weird, but he’s a dancer and that stole Soonyoung’s heart away. He really is such a beautiful dancer, but outside of the dance studio, Soonyoung hardly talks to him. Regardless of how often he speaks with them, his best friends have wonderful significant others and Soonyoung has been single for four years now. 

Four years ago means that he’s been single since his sophomore year in high school. The girl he dated had little interest in the relationship, but Soonyoung had convinced himself that she just wasn’t all that affectionate. That relationship had an ugly end. He hadn’t exactly moped over it, but Seokmin definitely hated how often he asked if they could go out for ice cream during the month following the breakup. 

He doesn’t know how  _ vibrator  _ led him to thinking about how single he’s been, but it does. Shrugging his thoughts away, he pulls his arm back and tosses the rock through. The glass shatters loudly, but the wind battles it. It rings in his ears until he realizes there is something accompanying it. It sounds like his friends, whooping from a distance. He can’t see them anymore, but he  _ can  _ hear them. “Get it, Soonyoung!” Seokmin calls with his musical voice, loud as a trumpet. “See you soon!” 

Another finger for the audience. He drops the stone and readjusts his flashlight in his hands. Carefully, he steps through the glass and proceeds into the mall to do a bit of shopping (or he tries to convince himself of that). If anything actually happens, he has his phone in his pocket. Jihoon is on speed dial and Seokmin’s phone number is easy. It has stayed the same since they were in middle school. 

“You’ll be fine, Soonyoung. Just keep walking.” It is weak, but he is the only person he has for comfort right now. If he has to whisper words to himself to stay calm, then he will. “There’s nothing here…” He stops, listening for any other noises. When he’s convinced that he’s probably alone, he moves his flashlight around to view the shops around him. There’s a salon and pizza place, also a JC Penny. All of them are locked up tight, but all of them have windows. 

When Soonyoung shines his light into JC Penny, he’s greeted by a mannequin that has him jumping out of his skin. He clutches at his heart dramatically, shaking his head at himself for being uneasy about a deserted place. The mannequin stares at him blankly, unseeing. It has no eyes or mouth, just a nose. Still, it gives Soonyoung the creeps, he shivers involuntarily before he notices that it is naked. He doubts that he’ll be finding anything in JC Penny if he breaks in there. It would have been too easy to complete his dare if the first store he came upon was unlocked and stocked. Soonyoung sighs, moving on. 

There are carts in the middle of the hallway, along with some benches and garbage cans. Soonyoung tries his best to find them with his light before his body finds them. He screams when his body comes in contact with something that ghosts across his skin. It feels like bones, maybe, if bones are really thin. He’s so scared that he doesn’t even want to shine his light on it, but he has to find out if there’s someone rotting away in this building. It is a responsibility of any person with a conscience. No one would be able to just leave a dead body here. 

He holds his breath as he turns around, preparing himself for the worst. If he sees a dead body, then he’ll have to scream. There will be no way that he’ll be fine if he turns and sees one. He’ll have to be marching out of the mall while calling in anonymously to the police station to report it. He’s not going to get arrested for trespassing and be put on a suspect list for a murder, nope. No siree. Already, there’s a whine in his throat as he turns. It threatens to become a scream, but it is extinguished immediately. 

It’s a dead plant’s twigs. He curses to himself, moving on. 

He makes it all the way to the middle of the mall before he notices a Hot Topic. In a way, it is better than a Spencer’s because his friends won’t beat him with whatever he brings out of here, if there is even anything left. He heads over to it, trying the lock. There’s no give, so Soonyoung goes to find something that he can pick up. There are no convenient rocks now, so he has to settle with a potted plant or a table. Both are sufficiently heavy, so he just grabs onto the nearest, the potted plant, and swings it against the window. It crashes against it, effectively shattering it. From a floor above, he thinks he hears something that sounds strangely human, but he ignores it. It is probably just his nerves getting the best of him. 

He steps in through what was the window. “Just focus on finding something to take.” Faintly, he swears that he hears a humming, but he ignores it the best he can as he starts to search around for a t-shirt left behind or a forgotten about Harry Potter wand.  _ Anything _ will assist them now, but he knows the weirder it is, the happier his friends will be. If his friends are happy, then they aren’t going to force him to go back in and get something else. He has to play this a little less than safe or he’d be regretting this life wholly. His friends might be some of the nicest people on Earth, but they were exacting in their tortures. 

There’s not much in Hot Topic. He’s hoping for some miscellaneous item from whatever popular media was alive two years ago. There just seems to be a lot cobwebs which seems to promise empty boxes. He doesn’t even want to try to open a bunch of boxes only to discover nothing. He wants to be able to find something that will shock his friends. Maybe he should try to locate the Spencer’s, if they have one. If Spencer’s warranted nothing, then he could always just take a mannequin from JC Penny. It would, at the very least, shock his friends. He doubts he’d have to walk back in if he brought it out after awhile, but if he had walked in and immediately brought it out, Jihoon would have taken it as an insult to their intelligences and dare-giving abilities. A dare, for Jihoon, is a challenge that is supposed to be respected. Too bad Soonyoung is not respectable or respectful. 

“Fuck, you think they would leave like…  _ something _ .” It seems like the mall did not just close one day, instead it was gradually cleaned out. That makes sense, keeping merchandise instead of wasting it, but if no one bought it, then why wouldn’t they just keep some things here or there? Did all of it have to end up in the bin? Soonyoung knows that there won’t be anything in the dumpsters and all of the doors are locked without any windows smashed, albeit for the ones he did in, so he knows that no one has been ransacking the place as he is now. 

Hot Topic gives him no escape from the never ending maze of the silent, darkened mall. Soonyoug really should have ran home when he had the chance. There is no escape now, except for finding an item and presenting it to his absolute best friends in the whole world who are nestled safely in Jihoon’s car with blankets and coffee and a radio. They are probably dueting together to Red Velvet and Shawn Mendes while Soonyoung’s coffee goes cold. He doesn’t think about the fact that it is three in the morning or that he would be just as scared in the empty parking lot as he is in the middle of the empty mall. 

While walking, he almost falls into the drained fountain. There is a random assortment of coins from all over the world sitting at the bottom of it. He could look through it for something interesting, but while Seokmin would fall for the ruse, Jihoon wouldn’t ever be impressed by a coin. Even if it came from Mars, he would expect Soonyoung to find something that takes time and courage, both of which Soonyoung is realizing he is lacking. Especially, he is lacking courage. He doesn’t know why he agreed to this dare and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to come back alive, or at all. He’s pretty much lost now that he’s caught sight of the Verizon store. This mall, already somewhere he never hung out at, was unknown to him. He had maybe been there once or twice for formal clothes, other than that, he couldn’t remember even needing to go. 

His phone rings and he knocks backwards into the window frame. A stray shard of glass cuts into his sleeve, barely slices his skin. In his fright, he jumps his flashlight, fishing his phone out of his pocket. “Hello, hello?” He sounds erratic, but he barely cares. 

“You alright?” Thankfully, it is Seokmin, not Jihoon. 

Soonyoung tries to catch his breath. He thinks that Seokmin would be panicking in this situation too, but he was able to escape it. “I’m alright.” He says. “I’m good, fine, whatever. I’m trying to find something worthy enough to present to the two of you princes.” 

Seokmin laughs. It is a warm laugh that comforts Soonyoung even when he thinks it is impossible to be comforted. “Okay, good. We thought you would have already picked up a potted plant and ran back out with it.” Another, smaller laugh. “Well, okay. I’m going to try to get some shut eye in the car. I don’t know if Jihoon will fall asleep or not, but I just wanted to let you know if you couldn’t get ahold of me it was because I went to sleep.” There’s a smile in his words that makes Soonyoung a little less afraid. 

“Okay,” a sigh. “I am going to try one more store and then just pick something up if there’s nothing there.” 

“Good luck!” Seokmin chirps happily as though it isn’t three in the morning. Soonyoung is smiling despite himself as he bends down to pick up his flashlight. Before he stands back up, he puts his phone back into his pocket and shines the light on his minor injury. It really is minor. Soonyoung thought that it had stung, but he couldn’t feel the trickle of blood that meant he definitely needed to bandage himself up. For now, he could continue his search. He ran into thick glass, not a rusty nail. 

He stands up, moving his light to his hand so he can see ahead of him. Then, he screams louder than he has ever before. Falling back through the empty window, he stumbles back until his backside hits the floor. His light rolls away from him, but there’s another light that he didn’t notice. It is coming from where he just was.  _ There’s a ghost there. I’m going to die. The rumors are real and these are my last moments. I’m going to die right now.  _ He doesn’t want to pick up his light or himself. If he does, then he’ll have to face this terror. 

“Sorry.” The ghost says.  _ It talks?  _

“You talk?!” Soonyoung guesses that ghosts should be able to talk, but he’s never met a ghost before to see if  _ Casper  _ had any merit. “Can you please not kill me? I’m only here on a dare.” He thinks about getting on his knees and begging, maybe praying even. “I will leave immediately… I am so sorry for trespassing on your resting place.”

A light hits him and he has to squint past it to make out the vague outline of a person. “Excuse me?” It asks. “Are you alright?” The shape is getting closer by the second and Soonyoung can only back himself up so much more before he’s running into things. Already, there are pieces of glass stuck into his ass and the palms of his hands. None of his injuries really hurt, but they are adding up now. He’ll have to slather himself in Neosporin as soon as he’s home, but he’s fine for now. “Do you need any help?”

The ghost is reaching for Soonyoung. The hands that touch him will probably be cold. They’ll tug on something deep inside his body and he’ll never feel the same afterwards. The bottom of his stomach will seemingly fall out and he’ll be stuck on the rollercoaster named afterlife. “No!” He yells, but only after his hand is being enveloped by a strangely warm hand. 

One thing that Ghost Expert Soonyoung knows is that they are not warm. Dead people can’t be warm since they lack blood. He holds tight to the hand and allows himself to be helped up. In the dim light cast by both of their flashlights, Soonyoung notices that the ghost turned person is handsome, only a little taller than him, pale with the darkest black hair. Really, there’s nothing about him that isn’t Soonyoung’s Type. He’s mediocrely strong looking with a strong nose and jawline. Soonyoung really won’t admit that he lets his gaze travel along this stranger, but he likes what he sees, so he has to take it in. He’s lean, almost too skinny, with impossibly long legs. Soonyoung thinks he could write a song about his thighs, but also his hands. He’s so awestruck to meet someone so handsome at this time of night in this place that he doesn’t hear whatever his perfect stranger says. 

“What?” Soonyoung says, hoping that the lighting hides the fact that he’s blushing. 

The stranger laughs. It is just a deep rumble in his chest. “I asked if you were going to let go of my hand.” His voice is so impossibly deep that Soonyoung could drown in it. He almost does, forgetting that he’s supposed to let go of his hand. Soonyoung drops his hand abruptly. “Are you alright?” He looks somewhat concerned.

“Why are you here?” Soonyoung finds himself asking, instead of answering his question. “You aren’t a police officer, are you? Please don’t arrest me.”  _ Although…  _ He really wouldn’t mind being arrested by him. If it weren’t for the fact that he needed a clean record, he would be more than willing to be arrested by him.  _ Boy,  _ he was craving for some type of affection from anyone resembling Future Boyfriend Material for him. 

Abruptly, the stranger starts to laugh. They are more like guffaws and he covers his mouth with his hand. Soonyoung’s other judgements might be clouded by how handsome this stranger is, but he knows for a fact that his smile is one of the most beautiful he has ever seen. He uses most of his face to smile, much like Seokmin and him. For some reason, he wants to make this person smile again. Finally, he gets answers to his worries. “I’m… not a police officer. Don’t worry. I almost thought you were…” He wipes his eyes. “My friends and I like to check out haunted places. She’s convinced that this place is actually haunted, but I’m just here to chaperone her.” 

A sigh slips from Soonyoung’s mouth. “I’m… so, so relieved. I really didn’t want to get arrested.”

“Who would?” There’s another deep laugh that threatens to pull Soonyoung under. “I’m Wonwoo.”

Soonyoung beams at him, mimicking the sun itself. “I’m Soonyoung! It is nice to meet you fellow mall shopper.” The man across from him quirks his lips up into the smallest smile. For all Soonyoung knows, he’s being over-the-top. It is three in the morning, so normal people would be exhausted by now. There’s a moment when he has to decide to keep his skit going or to just wait to laugh it off. “What are you searching for today?”

Wonwoo’s smile only grows with his own reply. “Oh, fellow shopper, I’m in search of some white sheets. I desperately need them so I can prance around as a ghost and scare other shoppers.” His voice changes, now he sports a dramatic flair, not unlike the odd accent that has overtook Soonyoung’s speech. They are in a Shakespearean play, it would seem. Soonyoung, the sap, absolutely loves it. 

“Well, sir, it seems like I know  _ exactly  _ where to find just what you need, if you would follow me.” He starts to lead Wonwoo towards JC Penny, or at least, where he thinks JC Penny is. Maybe he’ll have to check a directory, if those still exist within this decrepit building, but for now, he heads backwards, using the Verizon store as a guide. It happens to be nearly right across from Hot Topic and he had happened upon Hot Topic first, so he turns around. He’s not good with directions, but there is no way he’s going to get lost now. Now, he has something to prove. 

Wonwoo falls into step with him, stuffing his free hand in his pocket and keeping his grip on his flashlight with his other. “I do hope it is the finest sheet of the most precious material. I will empty my pockets for sheets fashioned of silk.” He wonders if Wonwoo feels as ridiculous as Soonyoung does, or if they are allowed to be comfortable like this. They are strangers to each other, but Soonyoung feels like he can act like himself. For some reason, Wonwoo understood Soonyoung’s odd way of joking. He is willing to follow along to the skit, and usually, no one except for Seokmin and Seungkwan is willing to do that with him. Dahyun does it too, but he’s around her a lot less, since Seokmin always gives her his whole attention when the two of them hang out.

“Only the best for you, my good sir.” He tips an imaginary hat towards Wonwoo. That undoes him completely and he has to lean against Soonyoung to keep upright. Instantly, Soonyoung feels both hot and cold. He might know nothing about Wonwoo, but he knows that he’s funny, handsome, and he’s attracted to him. Let’s just say, if there was a kissing booth and Shinee were options, he’d have to think really hard about passing Wonwoo up. If there there were, say, a bunch of handsome people that weren’t all his idols, then he’d empty his pockets for Wonwoo. Kissing Wonwoo would probably be nice, but he’s not going to think about that because what type of person thinks about kissing someone as soon as they meet?

Well, Soonyoung apparently. 

He wouldn’t  _ really _ , but he likes to think about it. He’s been single for entirely too long, and while he’s not miserable, he can’t help but imagine becoming involved with people he barely knows. All of his friends are either married, dating, or totally off limits, so strangers are his only viable option. He doesn’t know if it makes any sense, but he thinks it does. He can’t really get into a relationship with anyone he knows currently, so he fast forwards his relationships with people he hardly knows. In the long run, it could do damage, but he never ends up talking to those he finds interesting again. It’s like once he talks to them, they lose whatever charm bewitched him. Soonyoung can only have a fantasy once, then it just shatters on him. He realizes that it won’t work out or the person he’s interested in isn’t what he’s imagined. It’s a dangerous game. 

Wonwoo finally recovers from his laughter and the game is back on. “Why, thank you. I look forward to sampling your best wares. Continue showing me the way.” He places a hand out, telling Soonyoung to lead the way.

It takes some time to get back to the familiarity of the shops surrounding JC Penny, but finally it starts to come into view. “Where’s your friend, by the way?” The skit is paused. Soonyoung is genuinely wondering about Wonwoo now. They really are strangers, even if Wonwoo seems to be someone that he can trust… Soonyoung doesn’t know if he actually can. He’s trying to woo someone that he only knows the name of. “They won’t be looking for you, will they?”

“No, she does her own thing, while I do my own.” He shrugs. “She’ll call if she needs me. We are parked on the other side of the building and she’ll probably want to be home by five at least.” Soonyoung groans, realizing the time. It has to be around four by now. He really wants to be able to climb into his own bed. He’s glad that he no longer lives with his family because then he would have had to be home by now. While he lived with them, he always had to report in and he hardly spent any time with his friends after dark. It was so hard for his parents to trust him. 

JC Penny proves to be locked too. Wonwoo knows how to pick the lock though, so Soonyoung holds the flashlight so that he can see. There’s no damage this time, which Soonyoung is slightly disappointed about, but he doesn’t say so. He doesn’t want to seem like some sort of  _ hooligan  _ in front of Wonwoo. They both throw the shutter open and head inside the imposing darkness.

“Why here?” He asks once they are inside. “Does your dare involve you taking something tacky from one of the county’s most valued shop?” Soonyoung is looking around, sweeping his light from left to right, then up and down to try to catch sight of  _ anything  _ left. He doesn’t stop to tell Wonwoo that Burlington is tons better than JC Penny because he’s not here to argue about popular shopping centers. 

Instead, he shrugs. Wonwoo has his light trained on him so he can see him. “I need to just take something weird, so I decided on a mannequin. The stores I wanted to grab something from are closed, or I have no way to find them. I don’t want to be here all night either since I have classes in the morning.” He explains, still looking around. If he focuses on Wonwoo for too long, then he’ll probably be swept under by how smooth and deep his voice is. He tries to convince himself that he doesn’t want to pursue him, but he totally would be willing. 

Soonyoung’s been out of the dating realm for so long now that he doesn’t even know how to flirt effectively. He wishes that he still knew that because he suspects that if he asked people in his high school, then they would tell him that he’s quite the charmer. “Ah,” Wonwoo makes an understanding noise. “A mannequin is not so bad. It’s weird alright, especially unclothed in the darkness….” He looks around too. Both of them are unable to find anything, even as they walk past jewelry counters and clothes racks. “Do you go to college here?”

“Yeah,” he is quick to answer. There’s really nothing else to do here other than talk. It looks like he’ll be hauling a mannequin out of here since he can’t find anything else. It makes sense, for the mall to be this empty, but it makes him irrationally upset. He was hoping to find a real treasure that would be the talk of his friend group for at least two days. “Do you?” Finally, he turns to face Wonwoo and is momentarily blinded by his flashlight. 

Wonwoo apologizes, aiming the flashlight away from Soonyoung’s face now. “I do, actually. I’m in my second year, even though I have way too many credits.” He gives a strained laugh that Soonyoung returns with a smile. It feels like he’s giving information that he always gives out. Soonyoung hopes this isn’t his fun fact when talking to professors because it is not fun at all. It makes him sound like a nerd if Soonyoung had to judge it. Soonyoung’s probably behind on credits, but he is still considered to be a full time student, so he really doesn’t think he is doing all that bad. He’s just not going to nerd out and take more than he has to in a semester, even if he wants nothing more than to be out of school. 

“What’re you studying?” Soonyoung stops walking. There’s nothing around them and he doesn’t want to go upstairs to try to look. The night is becoming the morning and he just wants to get home, but there’s the issue of Wonwoo because more than he wants to get home, he wants to talk to Wonwoo. For all he knows, he won’t ever be having a conversation with him again 

He bits his lip and Soonyoung loses all of his sensibility and probably drools on his feet. For some reason, he seems shy about admitting his line of study. He might actually be a nerd, even though he doesn’t really seem like one. “I’m studying botany, but also music. I can play the cello… mediocrely and my parents hoped I would continue studying it in college.” Soonyoung understands and doesn’t understand his shyness all at the same time. “What about you?” It is clear he wants to divert the attention away from him. There’s no room for questioning him and Soonyoung won’t, especially because if a musician says they are mediocre at an instrument then they are probably spouting horseshit. Musicians, always the demure types. 

“I’m a dancer.” He says, puffing out his chest. He’s so proud of it, really. If he could study dance for the rest of his life, then he would. He wants to learn how other countries expect him to move his body and how their music sounds when it drifts from the speakers. Soonyoung is a dancer, but he’s more than that. His body is a musical instrument that does not sing, does not rap, does not produce beautiful noises… It is a thing of appreciation for the eyes. It is music for all the senses. Wonwoo smiles at him, sensing his pride. “I’ve been since… since I can remember. My parents let me enroll young and I never lost interest. I bet they hoped I did… They really pushed for me studying anything else, but I probably wouldn’t have gotten in if they were just judging my test scores and GPA. I’m not a ‘smart Asian,’ so I’m not really an asset to this school.” He laughs bitterly. It is probably wrong of him to say, but he is bitter. 

The number of universities that had turned him down after he had performed to the best of his ability… He knew what they didn’t see. They didn’t see a student who fit into the stereotype molded for their ethnicity. He really hated that, but he had no power to address it. Living in America his whole life had made him numb to it all. 

“I thought you were a dancer…” Wonwoo says, looking shy again. He turns his head quickly to examine an empty wall. Soonyoung finds this suspicious, but he’s still quietly fuming. “I’ve seen you around, I mean.” He amends after a moment of silence. 

_ That  _ snaps Soonyoung back into his quirky, excitable self. “You have?!” He drops his flashlight in his excitement, opting to hold onto Wonwoo’s wrists. His hands shake and throw Wonwoo’s light about the room. “I’ve never seen you, but I don’t really get a chance to see the orchestra play… not much anyway.”

“Who said I was in the campus orchestra?” There’s something hard in his eyes that makes Soonyoung wonder if Wonwoo doesn’t want to be known. Maybe he’s just once again denying his talent. One has to be talented to be accepted into the orchestra. Their campus had one of the best orchestra’s in the whole state. Also, cello players felt rare. He doubted that they had too many around here, but who knows? Not Soonyoung, that’s for sure. Right before Soonyoung can push on Wonwoo’s buttons, a small smile slips onto his face. Soonyoung’s struck. “I’m a little bit of a fan of yours…” 

His heart drops straight through his body. Surely, he’s dead, because while he knows that he has a couple admirers (the online anonymous admirer site helped him scope his popularity out), but he didn’t think he had a reach outside of the fellow dance majors that knew him. There had been two performances that he had done this year, plus another that he had done with Chan, a doe-eyed freshman with courage of steel. “You are?!” Soonyoung’s excitement is boundless. It doesn’t matter that it is four in the morning. Nothing matters at all because Soonyoung has  _ reach _ . He has a fan that isn’t just another one of his fellow dancers. Wonwoo can probably tell how excitement he is, but Soonyoung doesn’t care about that either. “I’ve… I’m sorry… I’ve never had anyone admire me before.” 

Wonwoo looks nervous now, stricken almost. Soonyoung doesn’t know if he needs comforted or if he needs anything at all, but he wants to get it for him. “It’s alright…” His gaze flits around the darkness, not landing on Soonyoung any longer. “I’ve seen you dance a couple times. You actually dance with my friend, Junhui. He talks about you sometimes, and then when I go to see him dance, I end up watching you.” 

_ I end up watching you.  _

Soonyoung stops thinking altogether, words just echoing in his head.

_ I end up watching you _ . Wonwoo had said that with a straight face. Even in the dimness, Soonyoung could not mistake the honest emotion on his face. There was fondness there, even if it was fleeting. Wonwoo did admire Soonyoung, and more than just a random viewer. His gaze could be pulled away from a close friend by Soonyoung’s movements. Even though he knows he is good at what he does, Soonyoung never thought that anyone would be watching  _ him _ solely. Groups that danced together should have equal chances at garnering attention, but something about Soonyoung had drawn Wonwoo to him, like a moth to a flame. 

“You end up watching me?” Soonyoung asks hollowly, feeling both very full and very empty all at the same time. “ _ Me _ ?” There’s really nothing special about him, except that his love for dance is strong. Junhui, and probably the rest of his dance group are just as good him at performing. It is just hard for him to believe that he’s caught anyone’s eye. “Why?” He wants to sound curious, but ends up sounding lost. 

Finally, Soonyoung’s hands free Wonwoo’s and he can reposition the light so that they are once again illuminated in the emptiness of the store. “I do… It is magnetic… Your dance, I mean. The way you do it.” For the first time in the night, Wonwoo’s lost control of his words. He had seemed so eloquent, even while he was shy, but now he seems to struggle to keep the conversation afloat. His admission seems of the embarrassing sort, but Soonyoung’s only further amazed that he has an admirer of any sort, especially one that is this handsome. “I try to watch you whenever you have a performance.” Another admittance that sets Soonyoung’s veins aflame. 

He knows that he doesn’t know anything about Wonwoo, but he’s so sickeningly sweet that Soonyoung wants to just hold his hand. It doesn’t even have to be romantic. Soonyoung feels like he just wants to be beside him, maybe for the rest of his life, but definitely until he absolutely has to leave.  _ Wonwoo  _ is magnetic, not Soonyoung. There’s something about him that feels familiar even if he is sure that he’s never really met him before. Junhui might have mentioned him though, but he can’t remember a time he has. “Thank you,” Soonyoung says, also at a loss. More than anything, he wants to be able to keep this conversation afloat, to keep this thing going as long as possible, but he doesn’t know what it is or if it will even exist outside of tonight in this mall. 

In the low lights, Soonyoung catches Wonwoo’s quirked eyebrow, but before either of them can say anything a woman’s voice is bellowing out Wonwoo’s name. She sounds just as whimsical as him, with a similar strength in her voice. Wonwoo rolls his eyes and calls out her name in response, “ _ Seulgi! Over here! _ ” 

Soonyoung starts to walk back towards the entrance with Wonwoo. “Ready to meet my half-sister?” He asks, throwing a glance back at Soonyoung. He nods in response, still following after. “She’s a little much, but also the best person in the world. She probably wants to get back home.”Soonyoung nods again. He knows that tonight can’t last as long as he would like it to. Still, Wonwoo continues “I was thinking we could exchange numbers? If that’s okay?” He’s back to sounding shy again. 

Then Soonyoung’s smiles like a sunrise, pulling his phone out of his pocket so that he can hand it over to Wonwoo. In return, Wonwoo gives him his own. Both of them enter their information, Wonwoo finishing before Soonyoung, but only because Soonyoung rages an inner battle over whether or not to put a heart at the end of his name. Instead, he settles for a star. It’s safer that way, plus he’s still so unversed in flirting that he doesn’t trust him even with such a tiny act. He’d probably make Wonwoo feel strange about texting him. He won’t be forcing an imaginary relationship onto Wonwoo. He wants it all to be genuine. 

Seulgi finally meets up with them. She’s got bright orange hair that glows even without lights. Soonyoung finds out that he likes her spunk even though she does little less than introduce herself and steal Wonwoo away. “Text me, or call.” Wonwoo says quickly and quietly, looking back to make sure that Seulgi hasn’t heard him. 

“I will.” Soonyoung promises, then watches until he can’t make out the outline of either Wonwoo or Seulgi. After they’ve gone, he’s instantly back into JC Penny and tearing out a mannequin from the window. Finally, his nightly adventures can be put to rest. Jihoon and Seokmin are probably wondering where he is, but he doesn’t care about that because his whole body wants him to dance with joy. Someone new has walked into his life and with him, there might be something in the air that will make Soonyoung feel a little less like a third wheel on all his outings. 

Taking the mannequin out to the car proves to be difficult though. It doesn’t have joints that move, so he’s struck with dragging its feet against the concrete because it is too heavy to lift over his head and too big to tuck underneath his arm. Thankfully, Jihoon has pulled the car closer while he had been adventuring, so he doesn’t have to cross the entire length of the parking lot as he had to do when he first entered the mall. 

“What the fuck is that?” Jihoon throws open the passenger seat door for Soonyoung. Seokmin is asleep in the back, fastened up tight. Jihoon probably did that. He cares more than he’d like anyone to believe. “We don’t have any room for it here.” The face he is making communicates to Soonyoung that Jihoon is dead-tired which means that he’s not in any mood to be argued with. Soonyoung tries to swallow his response back, but that’s hard for him to do. 

This night is alive. Soonyoung cannot hold back anything. He opens the back door and is careful to buckle his mannequin in. “Be nice to Patricia. She’s a  _ model _ .” He tuts, climbing into the passenger seat after ‘Patricia’ is in. Jihoon grumbles underneath his breath, but they are all words that Soonyoung can’t catch. He doesn’t mind though. Jihoon can be angry, but Soonyoung has just had the best night of his life, probably, until he has the next best night of his life. He looks forward to that, but for now, this can go down in history. “Hey, do you know Wonwoo?”

Jihoon’s nose is scrunched up angrily, but he just looks cute. If Soonyoung told him that, he’d probably throw him out of the car. “Junhui’s friend, you mean? I don’t know any others. Why do you want to know?”

Soonyoung shrugs. “I met up with him in there. He said he knew Junhui, so I was just wondering if you knew him.” 

“Yeah, he’s a fucking prodigy. One of the best cello players I’ve ever heard.” Jihoon sounds amazed by him, which only excites Soonyoung further, if that’s even possible. “What was he doing in there?” 

“Ghost hunting with his half-sister,” He answers, giving another shrug. “I thought he was a ghost.”

Jihoon chortles, shaking his head. “Idiot.” Then he keeps on driving, intent on making it home instead of passing out at the wheel. Soonyoung makes sure to keep him awake for the ride to his place so they don’t end up getting in a wreck or getting a ticket for stopping in the middle of the road. They’ve done that before, namely, Soonyoung has done that before and it was hell trying to wake him up so they didn’t get in trouble. 

First, Jihoon drops Soonyoung off, offering a quiet good night, then he probably takes Seokmin to his place so that he can crash on the couch. Soonyoung doesn’t think anymore of it though as he unlocks his own door and falls to pieces on his own futon. It might be close to five in the morning, but he can’t stop thinking about how tonight had played out. He tries to replay it all in his mind, but it is hard to recall all of it at once. He walks through it and then it is echoing in his head again. 

_ I end up watching you.  _

Anonymous Admirers 2017

You don’t know me, I’m sure of that. I don’t believe in ‘love at first sight’ or destiny, but you make me wonder if there’s a force out there. Maybe the force is you. All I know is that you dance so beautifully it gives me gooseflesh. I stand there in awe and forget how to breathe. People have told me that I could have an effect like that on people, but I can’t believe that now that I’ve felt it. Clearly, only you have that power. You are a hurricane and I am but water or wind. Stagnant or moving slowly. I can’t keep pace with you, I know that much. All I know is that there could be all the dance majors on stage, and as I always would, I end up watching you. 


End file.
